Dual-laser calibration of Thomson scattering systems in ITER and RFX-mod

We first review the principles of the dual-laser calibration technique for measuring the relative sensitivities of the spectral channels in a Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic system by detecting with the same spectrometer the spectra scattered by the same plasma volume from two laser pulses of different wavelengths. A new data analysis method is then introduced, based on the minimization of a single χ2 function, that provides a simpler and more convenient way to determine the measurement errors on the calibration coefficients. The new analysis method is used here to investigate the expected performances of this calibration technique in the core LIDAR TS system of ITER currently under design and in the conventional multipoint TS system of RFX-mod. By calculating the expected calibration errors for typical plasma scenarios we discuss the different possible choices of the calibration laser, the characteristics of the calibrating plasma and other system parameters with an impact on the application of the technique. For ITER core LIDAR TS, designed with Nd:YAG at 1064 nm as main laser, a ruby laser shows slightly better performances as a calibration laser compared with a second harmonic Nd:YAG and a calibration accuracy ∼1% can be achieved in a relatively small number of pairs of laser pulses. In RFX-mod the combination of a Nd:YAG and a Nd:YLF laser systems is the only viable choice, and we find that, in spite of the small difference between the two wavelengths (λ = 1064 nm and λ = 1053 nm, respectively), dual-laser calibration is still possible to the required accuracy with an affordable number of pairs of laser shots.